Details of racino’s East Greenbush gaming proposal released

This map provided by Saratoga Casino & Raceway shows the proposed location of a casino in East Greenbush.
PHOTO PROVIDED

SARATOGA SPRINGS >> Saratoga Casino & Raceway released details Tuesday about its proposed destination resort casino at a site on Thompson Hill in East Greenbush and said it was submitting the $1 million applicant fee to the state Gaming Commission a day before Wednesday’s deadline.

The estimated $300 million, 100,000-square-foot development is projected to create roughly 1,700 construction jobs and “1,700 permanent good paying jobs with benefits,” according to a release from Saratoga Casino & Raceway. It would be located along Route 4 between exits 8 and 9 of Interstate 90.

Meanwhile, the racino is poised to make a bid for another casino downstate. Saratoga Casino & Raceway officials plan to make a presentation Thursday about siting a gaming facility in Newburgh as well.

Saratoga Casino & Raceway, owned by voting shareholders Daniel Gerrity and James Featherstonhaugh, was initially considered as a top contender in the casino siting process, but it lost ground after the state said in its request for applications that a vote of support from the City Council would be a prerequisite to licensing a casino.

Advertisement

“When the RFA (request for applications) came out, it was very clear that what was going to be necessary to win this bid was something that didn’t make sense at this location,” said Rita Cox, vice president of marketing and external affairs at Saratoga Casino & Raceway.

Resolutions have been passed by both the East Greenbush Town Board and Rensselaer County Legislature that support casino site proposals, unlike the Saratoga Springs City Council, which unanimously passed a resolution in March opposing the state law allowing for the expansion of casinos.

“That’s one of the things that makes this proposal so promising,” Cox said of the local support in Rensselaer County and East Greenbush.

The Albany Common Council has not yet voted on the $300 million resort casino near the New York State Thruway Exit 23, proposed by Capital Gaming LLC.

On Monday evening, Cox said a meeting at Saratoga Casino & Raceway for employees and supporters was held, to discuss the new project and to thank them for everything they’ve done.

“The impact at the facility is going to be significant,” Cox said, “but when we’re successful at getting the bid in East Greenbush, we’ll have hundreds, even thousands, of opportunities for employees to move between the properties.”

The casino is slated to generate $35.5 million annually for the Capital Region and $11.4 million annually for East Greenbush and Rensselaer County, according to the Saratoga Casino & Raceway release.

Cox said East Greenbush was the best choice because it would have the maximum benefits for the region because it would keep gaming dollars “within the state — instead of losing them to a proposed casino in Springfield, Mass. — and will draw Massachusetts residents to New York for its many recreational and tourism offerings.”

In other casino developments, the Nevele Resort, Casino and Spa submitted its $1 million applicant fee to the state Tuesday for the redevelopment of its casino in Wawarsing in Ulster County.